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Up close photo of the Rosetta comet

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G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Link. Didn't see a thread.

BmapaPT.jpg
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The four images that make up this montage of comet 67P/Churyumov–Gerasimenko were taken on Sept. 26, 2014 by the European Space Agency’s Rosetta spacecraft. At the time, Rosetta was about 16 miles (26 kilometers), from the center of the comet.

In the montage, a region of jet activity can be seen at the neck of the comet. These jets, originating from several discrete locations, are a product of ices sublimating and gases escaping from inside the nucleus.

The overlapping and slightly dissimilar angles of the four images that compose the montage are a result of the combined effect of the comet rotating between the first and last images taken in the sequence (about 10 degrees over 20 minutes), and the spacecraft movement during that same time.

Launched in March 2004, Rosetta was reactivated in January 2014 after a record 957 days in hibernation. Composed of an orbiter and lander, Rosetta's objectives since arriving at comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko earlier this month are to study the celestial object up close in unprecedented detail, prepare for landing a probe on the comet's nucleus in November, and after the landing track the comet's changes through 2015, as it sweeps past the sun.

Comets are time capsules containing primitive material left over from the epoch when the sun and its planets formed. Rosetta's lander will obtain the first images taken from a comet's surface and will provide comprehensive analysis of the comet's possible primordial composition by drilling into the surface. Rosetta also will be the first spacecraft to witness at close proximity how a comet changes as it is subjected to the increasing intensity of the sun's radiation. Observations will help scientists learn more about the origin and evolution of our solar system and the role comets may have played in seeding Earth with water, and perhaps even life.

Rosetta is an ESA mission with contributions from its member states and NASA. Rosetta's Philae lander is provided by a consortium led by the German Aerospace Center, Cologne; Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research, Gottingen; National Center of Space Studies of France (CNES), Paris; and the Italian Space Agency, Rome. NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California, a division of the California Institute of Technology, manages the U.S. participation in the Rosetta mission for NASA's Science Mission Directorate in Washington.
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Edit -

Bonus picture. Saturn is by far the most photogenic planet and the most beautiful to look at.

a9Zzgg0.jpg
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Saturn's many cloud patterns, swept along by high-speed winds, look as if they were painted on by some eager alien artist.

With no real surface features to slow them down, wind speeds on Saturn can top 1,100 mph (1,800 kph), more than four times the top speeds on Earth.

This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 29 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on April 4, 2014 using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 752 nanometers.

The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 68 miles (109 kilometers) per pixel.
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G

GreatestHits

Member
They're fucking remotely drilling on comets flying thousands of miles away from the earth, drilling into ancient physical components that would blow our minds, that are not found in our world

Yeah space is still awesome
 
W

Wyndstryker

Member
As long as there isn't anything sealed away in there that won't be happy when we start studying the comet then it's all good.
 
N

Nokterian

Member
This is amazing. Unbelievable how close we are to a comet, space is so full of mystery and i just love seeing this.
 
Escape Goat

Escape Goat

Member
That stuff has been going around and around and around the sun since the birth of the solar system. There could be Reapers inside.
 
P

ponpo

( ≖‿≖)
Black Materia worked :0

There's something about black and white photos of comets / asteroids that is 'frightening' in some way.
 
D

DieH@rd

Banned
BTW, major kudos to the Japanese who already managed to land on comet, gather dust particles, return back to Earth and land.
 
G

GK86

Homeland Security Fail
Bonus picture. Saturn is by far the most photogenic planet and the most beautiful to look at.

a9Zzgg0.jpg
Click to expand...

Saturn's many cloud patterns, swept along by high-speed winds, look as if they were painted on by some eager alien artist.

With no real surface features to slow them down, wind speeds on Saturn can top 1,100 mph (1,800 kph), more than four times the top speeds on Earth.

This view looks toward the sunlit side of the rings from about 29 degrees above the ringplane. The image was taken with the Cassini spacecraft wide-angle camera on April 4, 2014 using a spectral filter which preferentially admits wavelengths of near-infrared light centered at 752 nanometers.

The view was obtained at a distance of approximately 1.1 million miles (1.8 million kilometers) from Saturn. Image scale is 68 miles (109 kilometers) per pixel.
Click to expand...
 
L

Log4Girlz

Member
DieH@rd said:
Landing attempt will happen on November 12th with no maneuvering thrusters, just slow approach of the landing probe with firing of several "harpoons" that may or may not catch the ground.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rosetta_(spacecraft)#Philae_lander

Comet_on_7_August_a.jpg


Should be an interesting feat, since Roseta is around 25-30 light minutes away if I'm not mistaken.
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There's no way is that far and can take those photos. Mars is like that far. Earth is 8 light minutes from the sun.
 
I

Icyflamez96

Member
I read the comments before looking at the picture because the image took a while to load on my mobile device. At first I expected it to just be a rock, and I would have been satisfied. Then I read the comments and expected it to be more than just a rock. Then I got disappointed when I saw it was just a rock.

And those who find it "unnerving" probably have trypophobia.
 
R

Rösti

Unconfirmed Member
Skyzard said:
No banana for scale?
Click to expand...
Well, the comet has a mass of 1x10^13 kg +/-10%. An average size banana has a mass of 125 grams. That's 1,25 × 10⁻¹² of the mass of the comet. I think that's correct.
 
C

CTLance

Member
.... I need to futz around some more in Kerbal Space Program.

Anyway, that's an awe-inspiring feat of engineering. Mindblowing, really.

Hopefully the lander works as intended.

Thanks for the thread.
 
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